• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.167-185
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• 2023

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to identify the influence relationship between positive psychological capital, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment of tourism guides, and to provide implications through empirical research to increase the capabilities of tourism guides that are a factor in the performance of planned travel products Design/methodology/approach - This study conducted an empirical survey using the google online questionnaire. It was directly surveyed, distributed, and collected from workers who were or were performing tourism guide duties in Asia and Europe, and 203 questionnaires were used for analysis. The empirical survey was conducted in a self-written manner through a simple random sampling method, and the statistical package was conducted with frequency analysis, factor analysis, multiple regression analysis, and correlation analysis using the spss 21.0 program. Findings - First, among the positive psychological capital factors, two factors, hope and optimism, have a significant positive (+) effect on job satisfaction. Second, among the positive psychological capital factors, two factors, self-efficacy and optimism, have a significant positive (+) effect on organizational commitment. Third, job satisfaction has a significant positive (+) effect on organizational commitment Research implications or Originality - The implications of this study are that the research results have had a positive (+) effect on the variables of positive psychological capital, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment of tourism guides, and have laid the foundation for academic research on research topics. In practice, it is expected to increase the positive psychological capital of tourism guides and have a significant impact on the organization's performance by actively supporting and supporting individuals related to the sustainable growth of travel products.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.42-57
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• 2020

Appropriate use and analysis of neuroimaging techniques is an inevitable aspect of clinical trials for patients with acute ischemic stroke. Neuroimaging examinations were recently used to define the core eligibility criteria and outcomes in acute ischemic stroke research. Recent clinical trials for endovascular treatment in acute ischemic stroke have also demonstrated the efficacy or safety of endovascular treatment using various imaging modalities as well as clinical indices. Furthermore, independent imaging reviews and imaging core laboratory assessments are essential to manage and analyze imaging data in order to enhance the reliability of the outcomes. Therefore, we systematically reviewed the use of neuroimaging in recent randomized clinical trials for endovascular treatment of acute ischemic stroke in order to provide a thorough summary, which would serve as a resource guiding the use of appropriate imaging protocols and analyses in future clinical trials for acute ischemic stroke. This review will help researchers select appropriate imaging biomarkers among the various imaging protocols available and apply the selected type of imaging examination for each study in accordance with the academic purpose.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.113 no.2
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• pp.153-163
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• 2024

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a significant shift in the lifestyle patterns of the populace across various domains. Concerns surrounding COVID-19 have emerged as pivotal catalysts of change in recreational habits with people giving a particular preference for environments with low population density and increased openness. This trend has resulted in an uptick in excursions to natural reserves, coastlines, and parks. However, during the peak of infectious outbreaks, widespread adherence to social distancing measures has precipitated a steep decline in tourist footfall across natural recreation forests, exacerbating financial deficits to a considerable extent. Thus, this research sought to compare and analyze the operational efficacy and productivity of national, public, and private natural recreation forests pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic by utilizing non-parametric methodologies, such as data envelopment analysis and the Malmquist productivity index analysis. The objective was to identify the factors contributing to the decreases in efficiency and productivity and ultimately offer nuanced recommendations tailored to respective administrative bodies. This study's distinctive focus on the analysis of management efficiency and productivity in natural recreation forests nationwide offers significant academic and practical relevance.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.3.1-3.21
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• 2022

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide and the number of cancer patients is expected to continuously increase in the future. Traditional cancer therapies focus on inhibiting cancer growth while largely ignoring the contribution of the immune system in eliminating cancer cells. Recently, better understanding of immunological mechanisms pertaining to cancer progress has led to development of several immunotherapies, which revolutionized cancer treatment. Nonetheless, only a small proportion of cancer patients respond to immunotherapy and maintain a durable response. Among multiple factors contributing to the variability of immunotherapy response rates, commensal microbiota inhabiting patients have been identified as one of the most critical factors determining the success of immunotherapy. The functional diversity of microbiota differentially affects the host immune system and controls the efficacy of immunotherapy in individual cancer patients. Moreover, clinical studies have demonstrated that changing the gut microbiota composition by fecal microbiota transplantation in patients who failed a previous immunotherapy converts them to responders of the same therapy. Consequently, both academic and industrial researchers are putting extensive efforts to identify and develop specific bacteria or bacteria mixtures for cancer immunotherapy. In this review, we will summarize the immunological roles of commensal microbiota in cancer treatment and give specific examples of bacteria that show anticancer effect when administered as a monotherapy or as an adjuvant agent for immunotherapy. We will also list ongoing clinical trials testing the anticancer effect of commensal bacteria.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.227-242
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• 2008

Objectives : To compare the efficacy of local acupoint with distal acupuncture at relieving pain and improving function in knee osteoarthritis. Designs : A randomized, single-blinded, crossover clinical trial. Settings : One outpatient clinic(department of acupuncture & moxibustion) located in academic teaching hospital, South Korea. Patients : 17 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee(mean age 62.76[$SD{\pm}4.37$] years). Interventions : The trial had 4 stages : baseline(2weeks), phase I and II(each 2weeks), washout period(2weeks). Patients were randomly assigned to either group A or group B. Group A received acupuncture at local acupoints during phase I, then acupuncture at distal acupoints in phase II. Group B received the treatments in reverse order. In each phase, the patients were treated with acupuncture for 6 times. Measurements : The primary outcome was subjective pain as measured by a 100mm visual analogue scale(VAS) ranging from 0(no pain) to 10(worst pain ever). Secondary outcomes were changes in the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index(WOMAC) total and pain scores. Measurements were obtained at baseline, 1st day of phase I and II, and 2 days after last treatment of phase I and II. Results : The 17 participants in 2 groups were well matched for age, sex, target knees, baseline VAS score, WOMAC pain score and WOMAC score. Participants in local acupoint group experienced greater improvement than distal acupoint group at 2 days after last treatment in WOMAC total score(mean difference, -10.65[95% CI, -20.56 to -0.74] ; P=0.036) but not in VAS(mean difference, -12.41[95% CI, -29.56 to 4.73] P=0.15) and WOMAC pain score(mean difference, -1.82[95% CI, -3.98 to 0.33] ; P=0.094). Conclusions : Local acupoints are more effective than distal acupoints at relieving pain and improving function in knee osteoarthritis.

• Journal of Engineering Education Research
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.46-54
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• 2011

The present study was carried out to investigate gender-related attitudes of professors in engineering as a socio-environmental factor for career barriers of female engineering students. For this purpose, 220 professors, 169 in engineering and 51 in non-engineering, completed questionnaires that evaluated gender-related knowledge, behavior, and career expectations. Our results showed that both engineering and non-engineering professors showed a low level of knowledge of gender differences. Both groups selected soft skills such as leadership, initiative and self efficacy as lacking in female students, rather than their academic skills. Professors in engineering showed higher expectations of female students pursuing a career in engineering but lower expectations for working on core projects and taking leadership at the workplace than the professors in non-engineering. The level of gender-sensitivity related to teaching was lower for professors in engineering than those in non-engineering, although professors in engineering evaluated their gender sensitivity higher than the evaluation of their female students. In addition, professors in engineering opted less for developing programs for female student career development in engineering than professors in non-engineering, and they showed a low interest level in participating in such programs. This study showed that the efforts to make engineering professors aware of the characteristics of female students should precede the development of education programs.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.209-222
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to discuss the papers of social welfare field that were published in Korea, from a research methodology aspect in accordance with the meta-analysis reporting standard proposed by the United States Psychological Association. To this end, an analysis was conducted according to 5 types of conformity (title and abstract, introduction, methods, results and discussion) on the target subjects of 26 meta-analysis papers of social welfare field. The analysis results showed, first, the conformity in the title and abstract showed good results except for the suggested topics for meta-analysis methods. Second, in terms of the conformity of the introduction, the descriptions seemed to be good in a number of items. Third, for the conformity in the methods, the overall reporting standard was seen to be lacking and, in particular, the reporting standard for the coding procedure was seen as being very deficient. Fourth, the conformity in the results showed that the assessment of research quality and the magnitude of efficacy for each individual study, sample size, and the contents of the provided tables, summary of tables and graphs, including the study results, were not being properly reported. Fifth, the conformity in discussions was seen to be generally sound. Based on such results, by providing a reporting standard and perspective needed for ensuring feasibility that can be used to assess meta-analysis study materials, this study was aimed at presenting implications for the academic advancement of field of social welfare.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.330-336
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• 2015

Polycan originating from Aureobasidium pullulans is mostly composed of β-1, 3/1, 6 glucans and possesses an anti-osteoporotic effect. We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to examine the efficacy and safety of the polycan on bone biochemical markers in healthy perimenopausal women. Sixty subjects were randomly allocated to 2 groups-group 1 received 400 mg of polycan and group 2 received placebo-these were administered once daily for 28 days. Fasting blood and urine samples were collected at baseline and 4 weeks after treatment. The primary outcome was change in osteocalcin (OSC) and bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BALP). Changes in calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), C-telopeptide of collagen cross-links (CTx), N-telopeptide of collagen cross-links (NTx), and deoxypyridinoline (DPYR) were the secondary outcomes. A safety assessment was performed using adverse event (AE) and laboratory data. After 4 weeks of polycan treatment, OSC, DPYR, and BALP levels changed (P < 0.05) significantly from baseline in both groups. However, no significant differences were observed in any markers between the 2 groups, except for P (P < 0.05). Interestingly, group 2 showed a significant increase in CTx (65.2%, P < 0.05), while CTx in group 1 slightly increased (17.2%). Both groups showed no significant differences in AE. Although 4 weeks of polycan treatment did not have a statistically significant effect on bone metabolism biomarkers, increases in CTx were modestly inhibited by polycan. Further studies in a large population and longer treatment periods are needed to confirm the effect of polycan on bone turnover.

• Journal of the Korean Society for information Management
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.7-26
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• 2016

The present study aimed at investigating the strengths and weaknesses of a mobile personal health record (PHR) application and identifying its impacts on consumer health information behavior. For the study, twenty-seven college students used a PHR application for three months, based on which the study conducted paper-based interviews with them. The results of content analysis highlighted the benefits of the PHR such as supporting preventive healthcare and motivating and providing specific guidelines for healthy lifestyles by utilizing visual interface design, sharing the data with family and assisting caregivers to manage patients' healthcare, and above all enhancing the interaction between patients and healthcare professionals. However, the study found the drawbacks of the PHR such as a lack of data entry for strength training and the incompatibility with other healthcare applications. The participants were motivated to change their health behaviors in ways such as getting rid of sleep disorders, avoiding alcohol and smoking tobacco, and losing weight, and changing eating habits. Some consumers improved self-efficacy by changing their health behaviors, while the PHR provided emotional supports to the consumers who wanted to improve their health. The present study has an academic significance because the study of PHR is a burgeoning area in Korea. The study provides insights for promoting health and medical information services to cope with the paradigm shift of healthcare fields.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.12-24
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• 2015

Purpose: The need for the rapid evaluation and treatment of emergency department patients with major trauma is essential. A computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system can improve communication and provide immediate access to information with the goal of reducing ED time delays. The aim of this study was to report on the operation of a trauma CPOE program and demonstrate its usefulness by comparing time intervals from ED arrival to various evaluation steps before and after implementation of the program. Methods: This was a before-and-after observational study from a single emergency department at an academic center. The CPOE program was implemented for 6 months and compared with the data collected from the pre-CPOE implementation period. The efficacy of the program was assessed by comparing the time difference before and after CPOE implementation based on the following factors: total boarding time in ED, door-to-disposition decision time, door-to-blood-test report time, door-to-X-ray time, door-to-CT time, and door-to-transfusion time. Results: Over a period of 6 months, the CPOE was activated for a total of 17 patients. Total boarding time was reduced significantly after implementation [median, 641.5 minutes (IQR, 367.3-859.3) versus289.0 minutes (IQR, 140.0-508.0) for pre-CPOE vs. post-CPOE, respectively, p< 0.05). Time intervals for all evaluation steps were reduced after implementation of the program. The improvements in the door-to-blood-test and door-to-CT times were both statistically significant. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that a standard CPOE system can be successfully implemented and can reduce ED time delays in managing trauma patients.